Name: Tilda Sutter
Social Justice Group: Sports and Equality
Date of Fieldwork: November 30, 2017
Name of Organization: The Washington Post
Person (people) with whom I met and their job titles: Will Hobson – Sports reporter at the Washington Post
Type of Fieldwork: Interview
What I did:
In November, my group and I interviewed Will Hobson from the Washington Post. We skyped him in the learning lab, and we asked him about his work on reporting sexual assault in the Olympics. He has written about many different things, including work about houses in Florida, that won him a Pulitzer Prize. Recently, he has been writing lengthy articles about sexual assault in the Olympics, especially to young girls in camps for gymnastics.
What I learned:
Will Hobson is definitely an expert on this topic, and he answered all the questions we asked with evidence and talked about interviews he has held. I learned about how young girls ages 12-15 before the Olympics tend to spend their time in camps, or staying with doctors and coaches that are supposed to boost their career and get them to compete. These coaches and doctors assault them, and the girls can’t report it because the coaches and doctors control their chance of making the Olympics. I also learned about the gymnasts speaking out about the abuse, like Ally Raisman, who spoke out about Dr. Larry Nassar sexually assaulting her.
What I learned about Social Justice “work” and/or Civil and Human rights “work” from this fieldwork:
I learned about how language impacts how we think about social justice issues. For example, the girls that are assaulted are never referred to as “children” but instead as “athletes”. He believes this downsizes the issue because it doesn’t represent how vulnerable to children are, and instead makes them seem older and more able to protect themselves. I also learned about how children that are assaulted tend to be denied the right to speak out about their abuse because it puts their entire career in jeopardy. Also in many cases when they do report it the cases are either not investigated and the coach stays with the child and continues to assault them.
